Colleen McCullough, The Song of Troy (Orion Paperbacks 1999)
The story of the Trojan War just had to be told by Coleen McCullough. She is so steeped in ancient Greece that every cultural detail is perfect.
She demystifies the age of gods and heroes, bringing to vivid life even the mysteries of antiquity, when snakes lived under altars. Olympians play no role here, except as the justification humans give for their actions. Peleus’ seduction of Thetis, for example, is painted as a ‘contest between the New Religion (e.g. Poseidon-worship) and the Old (e.g. Nereus-worship)’.
Each chapter is told from one character’s point of view, so, we hear the story through the eyes of Paris, Odysseus, Achilles, Agamemnon, Helen. This allows for intimate snippets of characterisation which we don’t get in Homer. For example, Hektor sees in Helen’s eyes the hope that her prince might become the Heir, which he dismisses: ‘Time would teach her that Paris wanted no part of any responsibility.’ Helen bemoans, ‘Was there ever a fate worse for a woman than to know that not one person in her life is worthy of her?’
The story of Agamemnon and Achilles’ fight over captives is very different from the Homeric version, as is Patrokles wearing Achilles’ armour. I rather think I prefer the Homeric versions. The fight scenes are breath-taking.
We are treated to a version of the Trojan War, not as myth, but as a web of competition between the rulers of maritime powers and the personal vendettas involved. Paris’ abduction of Helen is payback for Telamon’s abduction of Priam’s sister Hesione, for example.
Susie Helme 
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